The invention relates to a system for fitting and electrically connecting lighting elements to a standard connecting system, such as for example those which are customary in North America (4″ junction box or octagonal junction box, referred to below as junction box). The invention makes it possible to fit lighting components in a safe and legal manner, irrespective of the shape and dimensions of the junction boxes used.
In order to be able to use junction boxes for lighting elements in flammable structures such as wood, the junction box has to be completely enclosed because of the risk of fire. Existing junction boxes comprise a metal or equivalent housing which encloses the electrical wiring. The junction box can be concealed in the plastering of the structure by means of a lath cover.
A drawback associated with this is the fact that the electrical wiring has to have been installed in the box already and that it is no longer possible to carry out any installation in the box after plastering, unless the plaster and the lath cover are removed again. The lath cover is typically a perforated plate which is fitted to the junction box and to which plaster adheres well. An additional drawback associated with this is the fact that the plaster and the fitting screws of the lighting device get into the junction box. Other existing alternative solutions have a large connection opening as a result of which the minimum dimensions of the lighting components to be fitted are limited or make use of a cover plate which completely covers the junction box and onto which the lighting device itself is then fitted.
Modern light fixtures, such as LED lighting, for example, therefore have a backplate or canopy onto which the fixture is fitted. Normally, this backplate is not concealed in the wall, resulting in it being visible and the fixture not being present in its purest shape and design. The use of junction boxes as described above now requires the backplate to be mounted on top of the plaster. This is aesthetically detrimental to the minimalist design of small lighting devices. In addition, the national laws on electrical installations specify that the electrical connections have to be accessible at all times without structural parts having to be broken. This is not possible with the above-described method with the single perforated plate.